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Could migrants be the answer to New York's restaurant labor shortage?

Apr 19, 2024
Hospitality businesses say they want working visas for migrants to be fast-tracked as they struggle to fill job vacancies.
Hundreds of asylum seekers lined up outside the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City in June. Restaurants want to put them to work.
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How immigrant entrepreneurs help create jobs and boost the economy

Immigrants are much more likely to create a new business, studies show, and the knock-on effect is job creation.
"Immigrant entrepreneurs in the U.S. are associated with a net gain in jobs. Specifically, they're responsible for roughly one in four of all jobs in young firms," said Marketplace senior economics contributor Chris Farrell.
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More immigration means gains for U.S. economy, CBO says

The agency's estimates that immigrants will add $7 trillion to gross domestic product over the next decade.
Immigrants have filled jobs that employers had struggled to find workers for, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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Baltimore bridge victims were immigrants in riskier, hard-to fill jobs

Mar 27, 2024
Mexican and Central American workers have been the lifeblood of the Baltimore economy, but they're also part of the "lowerarchy."
"Unfortunately, even when they're in the middle of the night, working the graveyard shift in the middle of a flimsy bridge, that represents a future for them and that represents opportunity for them," says George Escobar of CASA about immigrant workers.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Proposed appropriations bill would practically double the size of the Border Patrol

Mar 22, 2024
Congress failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform, so it's using the appropriations bill to bulk up the Department of Homeland Security.
The $1.2 trillion spending package to be voted on by the House on Friday includes funds to hire 22,000 more Border Patrol agents.
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images

Recent immigrants have filled labor gaps, boosted job creation, experts say

Mar 15, 2024
There has been a wave of migration to the U.S. — legal and not — since 2022. Many who entered are finding and keeping jobs.
In 2022 and 2023, 5.9 million people migrated to the U.S., according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

New H1-B visa rules give workers more autonomy

Mar 8, 2024
It’s H-1B season, which means U.S. companies are once again competing for a limited number of spots— 85,000 — in a visa lottery. Registration opened this week after the federal government revamped the application process.
Workers with H1-B visas "have a lot more more negotiating power," said immigration attorney Ummehani Ismail.
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For public good, not for profit.

Immigration has returned to pre-pandemic numbers. How does that affect the economy?

Feb 2, 2024
Population growth helps stabilize the economy by providing workers we need.
As more Americans retire, the need for workers in the healthcare sector will increase. Above, a stand at a job fair for jobs in health services.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

A record number of Chinese migrants make their way to the U.S.-Mexico border

Feb 1, 2024
A record number of Chinese migrants are using the established South American trail to reach the U.S. border.
Chinese migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico are detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in November 2023.
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Remittances grew again in 2023

Dec 19, 2023
Migrants around the world sent nearly $670 billion back to family members in their home countries. For some countries, remittances make up a quarter to a half of GDP.
A major reason remittances have grown in the past few years is that the U.S. economy has fared better since the onset of the pandemic compared to other countries.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images